Don't underestimate the poor and elderly; I was thrilled to refuse the class beauty's adva

Zhang Yifan took a step forward.

He stood in front of Liu Xiuzhi, looking down at the old woman who was sitting on the ground clutching her chest and had just been wailing and crying.

Liu Xiuzhi felt uneasy under his gaze, and the hand she was covering her chest unconsciously loosened, but she still stubbornly insisted:

"What...what do you want? Let me tell you, I'm your great-aunt!"

"Grandma,"

Zhang Yifan called her name, his tone so calm it didn't sound like he was arguing, but rather like he was stating something that had nothing to do with him.

"If I remember correctly, the last time you came to my house was the year my mother got married, right? It's been almost twenty years, and you haven't even visited during the Chinese New Year."

You've come today not to visit, but to ask for the house.

If you can't get it, then lie on the ground?

"At your age, isn't it cold lying on the ground?"

Liu Xiuzhi's lips trembled slightly, and before she could reply, Zhang Yifan had already turned to the neighbors who were watching at the door.

"Dear uncles and aunts, since everyone is here today, I'll make things clear."

This is my cousin, Fang Zhiyuan, who works at the Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau.

This is his mother; I call her my great-aunt.

Last weekend, my cousin came to my house with a bag of rotten bananas, saying he heard that my family was opening a shop and he came to congratulate us.

After sitting down and exchanging only a few words, he asked to borrow money, saying he wanted to buy a house in a good school district.

My mom said all the money was invested in the shop and she didn't have any money to lend him.

He then asked if anyone in the neighborhood was selling a house, and asked my dad to inquire about it.

My dad said there might be some, but not many.

My parents mentioned wanting to sell the house.

Then he pulled out a pre-printed purchase contract, complete with the handover date, and all that was left was for my parents to sign it.

"A purchase contract?" Aunt Li was taken aback. "Wasn't it supposed to be about borrowing a quota? How did it turn into a purchase?"

"Good question. I'd like to ask him the same thing. Last time he came to buy a house, but today he's here to borrow a quota?"

Zhang Yifan turned his head and his gaze fell on Fang Zhiyuan's face.

Fang Zhiyuan was squatting next to Liu Xiuzhi, with one hand on his mother's shoulder. His expression was like a pot of burnt porridge, a mixture of red, white, and yellow, and a layer of fine sweat had appeared on his forehead.

"Uncle, please explain this to everyone."

The document you showed today says "borrowing a school district spot," and you keep saying that Jiahao will return the house to us after he finishes school.

But after the house is transferred to you, the property certificate will be in your name.

"When the time comes, you'll take possession of the house with the property certificate, while the three of us will only have a tattered piece of paper. Where will we go to seek justice?"

"I...I didn't mean that..."

"So what do you mean?"

Zhang Yifan didn't give him a chance to finish speaking, taking another half step forward, his gaze fixed directly on Fang Zhiyuan's face.

"You work at the Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau, so you can see all the news in advance; you know it better than anyone else."

You're in such a rush to buy my house, even willing to sign an IOU to get the title transferred. Fang Zhiyuan, did you know something beforehand?

Fang Zhiyuan's face turned pale instantly.

It's not an act; she's genuinely fair-skinned.

The deathly pallor, like having your mask ripped off in public, spread from your forehead all the way down to the base of your neck.

His lips moved slightly, as if he wanted to say something but couldn't utter a word. The fine sweat on his forehead had gathered into large beads and was trickling down his temples.

He remained crouched on the ground, but his body swayed noticeably, as if he had been shoved hard from behind.

Liu Xiuzhi forgot to hum either.

She sat on the ground, looking up at her nephew whom she had never given a second glance, her mouth agape and her eyes vacant.

She had previously thought that the Zhang family's son was not very talkative and was always quiet whenever they met, just like his father.

But the person standing in front of her now speaks with every word like a knife, hitting the nail on the head.

She racked her brains trying to find a rebuttal, but found that her throat felt like it was stuffed with cotton, and she couldn't squeeze out a single word.

【Ding--】

[Congratulations, host, on completing the stage mission: The son pays for the father's debts.]

[Task Evaluation: Good heavens!!! You actually exposed your three-year-old cousin's father's hypocrisy in front of him!]

[The system originally predicted that you would need to practice Tai Chi in the park for half a year to barely be able to fight your 53-year-old cousin who is in his prime. Unexpectedly, you bypassed the physical aspect and exposed all of his father's secrets in front of more than a dozen neighbors!]

[Mission Reward: A villa in the city center. Please go to the designated location within three days to complete the handover procedures.]

Zhang Yifan ignored the system's ramblings.

He glanced at Fang Zhiyuan's ashen face and added a final sentence.

"Our neighborhood is indeed going to be demolished. Uncles and aunties, just go back and wait. The announcement should be posted in less than a month."

The living room was silent for a full three seconds, then suddenly erupted into a roar, like a pot of boiling water.

"Are they really going to demolish it? They've been saying this for years, is it for real this time?"

"Yifan, you're not joking about something like this!"

"I'm not kidding."

Zhang Yifan turned around and earnestly addressed the group of neighbors crowded around the doorway.

"I can't say the source of the information, but it's definitely true. Just be prepared."

Aunt Li stood there stunned for a long time.

She looked down at Liu Xiuzhi, who was still slumped on the ground, and slowly loosened her grip on Liu Xiuzhi's arm, taking a step back.

She looked at Liu Xiuzhi, then at Fang Zhiyuan, and then thought about what Zhang Yifan had just said. All the fragments clicked together in her mind.

"Oh, so it wasn't about borrowing a spot, it was about scrambling for a house!"

They claim to be relatives, but their hearts are full of business dealings.

Fang Zhiyuan works at the Housing and Urban-Rural Development Bureau. Knowing that the area was going to be demolished, he came to cheat people out of their houses without saying a word.

When the trickery failed, the old lady lay down on the ground. "You whole family, you're all putting on an act!"

Uncle Wang also fell silent.

He had just been whispering in Zhang Rongshan's ear, advising him to "agree to her first and appease her," but now he stood at the door with his arms crossed, his expression changing from sympathy to disdain.

The other neighbors also realized what was happening, and a hushed murmur arose at the doorway.

"This is outrageous! They're taking advantage of the honest Zhang family."

"I really thought the old lady was having a heart attack, but it turns out she was faking it. She was lying on the ground howling just like a real person."

"Luckily, Yifan is clear-headed, otherwise he would have been tricked out of the house without even realizing it."

Liu Xiuzhi was still sitting on the ground, but her back was no longer resting against the coffee table legs.

She sat upright on the ground, her lips moving as if she wanted to say something.

She wanted to cover her chest again, but halfway up her hand, she realized no one was watching her; she wanted to hum a couple more times, but the sound coming out of her mouth was dry and lifeless, and even she herself felt she couldn't continue the act.

She looked around blankly and realized that everyone's gaze had changed.

Aunt Li, who had just helped her, was looking at her with the eyes of someone looking at something dirty.

Old Wang, who had just been trying to mediate, leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed and a cold smile on his lips.

Those people she hoped would speak up for her at the door were now all pointing and whispering, some even taking out their phones and pointing them at her.